Watch Out

“The Bishop told me that he was shocked, and that he would have to give the matter ’prayerful and thoughtful consideration’.

“The following day I met with Mike who told me that he had spoken with the Bishop since I had met with him, and that the Bishop was taking ’legal and professional advice about your position’.

“I was upset that the bishop was immediately taking legal advice about my position, when he had said he would give the matter prayerful and thoughtful consideration. I also felt terribly threatened.”

In November 2006, The People newspaper published the story about Mr Johnston’s marriage breakdown claiming he had been unfaithful to his wife.

The Bishop of Liverpool later issued a statement to other media stating that he was “not in a position to override employment law”. He also said that he had offered "guidance to the different parties".

Mr Johnston said: “The bishop lied when he said in his statement to the Church Times that he was aware of the vulnerabilities of a number of people in all of this, and has tried to offer appropriate guidance to the different parties.”

The tribunal heard that Mr Johnston was finally dismissed by the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance in September 2007, following a long series grievance hearings, reviews, disciplinary proceedings and appeals.

His dismissal was mainly based on the fact that he had accused the bishop of lying and it was therefore impossible for the two of them to work together.

But Mr Johnston said he believed the matter should have been the subject of Christian forgiveness and insisted that he could have worked with Bishop Jones.

He said: “The bishop was unhappy since his failure to be appointed to the position of Archbishop of York

“There were concerns about how his failure to be appointed Archbishop of York would affect his attitude to his position in Liverpool.

“The bishop had made it clear to me that he was unhappy here and was considering his options.